2000 Miles Away

2,000 Miles Away Sooner than expected, my dear mother died at the age of 70 in 1998; and I, the distant one, was 2000 miles away. My oldest sister died after an auto accident at the age of 55 in 1999; and I? 2000 miles away. In 2003, an older brother died before I could arrive; he was 56, and I was 2000 miles away. A younger sister died suddenly, also in 2003; she was only 46: and I? Again, 2000 miles away. Another younger sister died in the Fall of 2012; she was 56, and I was 2000 miles away. My oldest brother was 79 when he died in 2013: And I was 2000 miles away. Never distant in my mind, but far away for a long time All of my family lives in the Midwest and South; and I reside way out West, 2000 miles away. Many years before, I had chosen to move and ‘go west young man’, 2000 miles away. I learned sadly, that when illness or tragedy strikes a loved one, it’s not good to be 2000 miles away. For 38 years, I have been the distant one in my family. I have endured the pain of separation and often wanted to make a change from being 2000 miles away. In the last days and hours of their lives, I was never there to walk with them, to talk, to kiss, to hold, or to touch; nor even to say, “Goodbye”. No. I could only board a plane, and cry, simply because I was far away, over 2000 miles. 02082012 PS Contest, Far Away, Nayda Negron, P5